Strategic Stone Study

A Building Stone Atlas of Lancashire

First published by English Heritage December 2011

Rebranded by Historic England December 2017
Introduction
The bedrock geology of Lancashire is dominated by fine to very
coarse-grained SANDSTONES of Carboniferous and, to a lesser
extent, Permo-Triassic age. There are, in addition, locally
important outcrops of limestone. The Carboniferous rocks
occupy a broad swathe of the east of the county, wrapping
around a Triassic ‘core’ in the lowlands of the west, which is
largely buried under thick accumulations of glacial till
(Quaternary).

The competence of the Carboniferous sandstones is reflected

in the rugged moorland of east Lancashire, which in turn is
reflected in the ‘sturdy’ character of the built landscape. The
limestones present in northern Lancashire and around
Clitheroe bring a lighter ‘openness’ to the villages of these
areas. Lowland Lancashire, meanwhile, is primarily brick
country, with the exception of some Triassic sandstone pockets
around Ormskirk and Heysham.

The widespread availability of durable building stone led to the

development of quarrying throughout central and eastern
Lancashire, with Rossendale (during the 1870s) exporting vast
amounts of building stone to other areas of Britain and also
abroad. Only a small number of quarries produce building
stone today, with most of the industry now focussing on the
supply of crushed stone products.

Over forty different geological horizons occurring within the

county have been exploited for building stone. Most of these
beds have been used only locally, however. The development
of major building stone quarries was made possible, by the
growth of the railway network. On the back of this, a much
more restricted set of beds – mainly from the (Namurian)
Millstone Grit Group – was targeted. The detailed descriptions
that follow are reserved for these major stone resources, while
a more generalised approach is adopted for the many other
‘local stones’ (which are often of similar character). The oldest
rocks are described first.

XXX Strategic Stone Study 1

 Lancashire Bedrock Geology Map

Derived from BGS digital geological mapping at 1:625,000 scale, British Geological Survey ©NERC. All rights reserved

Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 2

Silurian
Coniston Group
A limited outcrop of Silurian strata (in the order of 2 square
km) is found within Lancashire, occurring to the east of Kirby
Lonsdale in the valley of the Leck Beck, northeast of Leck
Village. The outcrop is triangular in shape with the apex
adjacent to Leck Fell Road and the base along the county
boundary on the northwestern flank of the valley. It is part of a
much larger outcrop underlying the fell country to the north
within Cumbria. Geologically, the beds are assigned to the
Coniston Group, which mostly comprises Greywackes,
Mudstones, Siltstones and sandstones.
The outcrop appears to be tectonically bounded by the North
Craven and Dent faults. The strata are exposed in the bed of
the Leck Beck for a distance of about 1km, and also on the
western flank of the valley around Fell End Crag. The area is
remote, and it appears that there is only one building lying
within the outcrop area. There are no obvious signs of
extraction, but the stone may have had limited local use for
field boundary walls and such like. The Silurian strata are not
an important source of building stone in Lancashire.
Lower Carboniferous
‘Dinantian’
Carboniferous Limestone
Supergroup
The Dinantian limestones present are the oldest of the
Carboniferous rocks in Lancashire, though they have a limited
Outcrop. The Supergroup as a whole consists of beds of
limestone, Shale and occasionally sandstone. These beds
have never been a major commercial source of building stone,
only being used for local building on and near the outcrop.
However, the limestones have been commercially important
for the production of lime and, more recently, for cement and
aggregate, resulting in numerous quarries across the outcrop
area. There are two geologically and Lithologically distinct
limestone areas in Lancashire: the Craven Basin and
North Lancashire.
Bowland High Group
In the Craven Basin, around Clitheroe and the Hodder Valley,
the Lower Carboniferous sequence is of basin type and
comprises alternating beds of limestone, shale, mudstone,
siltstone and occasionally sandstone. The limestones are
assigned to the Chatburn Limestone and the Clitheroe
Limestone formations (the latter including the Thornton
Limestone Member), which together make up the Bowland
High Group. These limestones are generally well bedded, dark
grey in colour, fine to medium-grained and with occasional
macrofossils. They occur only in the cores of the Clitheroe and
Slaidburn anticlines, and within the Sykes and Brennand inliers.
The limestone is used in buildings either roughly dressed into
blocks or used as random rubble, often rendered over. Examples
of villages using this stone are Chatburn and Downham.
Numerous limestone reef knolls occur within this Group, in a
belt from Clitheroe north-eastwards to Rimington, and
between Dunsop Bridge and Slaidburn. The limestone from
the knolls is paler in colour than the bedded limestones, and is
often fossiliferous, weathering to a pale grey to white colour.
This is extensively used in the settlements around the knolls,
for example Clitheroe, Worston and Newton.
The Calf’s Head, Worston, constructed
of ‘reef Knoll limestone’.
The use of Chatburn limestone in a
cottage in Bolton-by-Bowland.
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 3
Great Scar Limestone Group
The North Lancashire limestones are of shelf type and the
major limestone unit in this area is the Urswick Limestone
Formation, quarried near Nether Kellett and around Yealand,
Redmayne and Warton. The other limestones of the group
have seen little use as building stones, having been used only
in villages near to the quarries. The reef knoll limestones are
absent in the north.
Craven Group
Bowland Shale Formation
PENDLESIDE SANDSTONE MEMBER
Overlying the Bowland High Group is a considerable thickness
of shale-dominated strata – the Craven Group (formerly
referred to as the Worston and Bowland Shales). Within the
Craven Group are a number of named limestone and
sandstone units. Craven Group limestone is used for building
and walling only very locally with respect to its quarry source.
The most important building stone obtained from the Craven
Group, however, is actually sandstone.
The Pendleside Sandstone Member includes some of the more
important of the workable sandstone beds, and attained a
local significance because the limestones present within the
succession are much harder to dress and use for building. The
rock is a grey to brown, fine to medium grained, micaceous
sandstone that weathers to a darker grey-brown colour. In the
Ribble Valley, the Pendleside Sandstone crops out on the
western side of Pendle Hill between Whalley and Rimington,
and also along the southern edge of the Bowland Fells
between Chipping and Bolton-by-Bowland.
Pendleside Sandstone: Lower Coar
Farm near Chipping.
Pendleside Sandstone: the Parish
Church, Chipping.
Upper Carboniferous
‘Silesian’
Millstone Grit Group
Pendleton Formation
PENDLE GRIT MEMBER
Sandstones from this unit are probably the second most
widely used building stone in Lancashire, surpassed only by
the sandstones of the Haslingden Flags. Pendle Grit is typically
an even-coloured, pale buff, medium to coarse-grained,
feldspathic sandstone, with interbedded siltstone and
mudstone. It is commonly developed as massive beds of up to
4.5m in thickness, with little, if any, visible internal structure
(no cross-bedding, for example). There is little lithological
variation across the outcrop area.
Pendle Grit sandstone is extensively developed in the Craven
Basin, being found in the Lancaster, Settle, Garstang and
Clitheroe areas. There were major quarries at Longridge and
Lancaster – where it was known as ‘Longridge Stone’ and
‘Lancaster Freestone’ respectively. The sandstone was very
widely used in all manner of civic, ecclesiastical, commercial,
industrial, domestic and agricultural buildings over a wide
area of Lancashire, especially in towns and villages close to the
outcrop, and exported to the larger towns in mid-19th century.
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 4
It seems to have been the stone of choice for many of the
considerable number of churches which were constructed
during the Victorian building boom. Lancaster has many
important ‘Lancaster Stone’ buildings: the Castle, the Priory
Church (St Mary), the City Museum (old Town Hall), the
Customs House, St George’s Quay, the Judges’ Lodgings, the
Lune aqueduct and Skerton Bridge being the most
outstanding examples.

Preston, in contrast, is primarily a town of brick buildings.

‘Longridge Stone’ is used in many of its prestigious buildings,
however, including the Church of St. John the Devine and the
Harris Museum. Most of the 19th-century stone buildings in the
town centre and the Victorian Churches in the fringes and
suburbs were constructed of the sandstone, while the better
quality Victorian and Edwardian terraces and houses used The City Museum, Lancaster.

‘Longridge Stone’ decoratively. The stone was also utilised in

similarly prestigious buildings in many other Lancashire
towns, including Bolton Town Hall and in construction of the
Liverpool Docks. It is also thought that the ‘Longridge Stone’
was extensively used in Lancashire’s railway architecture
and structures.
The quarry at Waddington Fell (NW of Clitheroe) – lying within
a Pendle Grit outcrop formerly mapped as ‘Warley Wise Grit’
– was reopened in about 1960 primarily for aggregate
production. More recently, though, it has begun producing
blockstone for sawing into building stone on site, and this is
now widely distributed across Lancashire and beyond for both
new-build and conservation purposes.

The Customs House, Lancaster.

Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 5
Copster Green Sandstone
The Copster Green Sandstone occurs within the Pendle Grit
Member, lying roughly in the middle of the unit. It crops out in
an area extending from Copster Green (NW of Blackburn),
northwards towards Dinckley on the River Ribble. In this area,
it forms a distinctive ridge in the landscape. The rock is a
medium to coarse-grained sandstone composed of quartz and
feldspar grains, with occasional larger pebbles of quartz.
Amongst other characteristics, it differs from the usual Pendle
Grit sandstones by virtue of its pale red colour. A handful of
quarries worked Copster Green Sandstone around Copster
Green itself, providing building stone for the surrounding area.
Copster Green Sandstone was frequently used for dressed
stone work, but was also employed as a rubblestone.
Examples of buildings using Copster Green Sandstone are St
Leonard’s Chapel in Old Langho and many houses in Copster
Green and Ribchester. In Ribchester, which is downstream
from the rock outcrops at Dinckley, boulders of Copster Green
Sandstone were collected and used for building.
Birkett Stone at Slaidburn Church..
Birkett Stone
Birkett Stone – sometimes referred to as ‘Red Fell Stone’ – is
another Pendle Grit variant. Lithologically, it is a medium to
coarse-grained, feldspathic sandstone, with a distinctive
purple to red colour (and is not dissimilar to the sandstone
currently produced at Waddington Fell Quarry).
The outcrop of the Birkett Stone is restricted to a small area
between Dunsop Bridge and Newton in the Hodder Valley, and
it was worked in several quarries on Birkett Fell, to the SW of
Newton. Birkett Stone appears to have been utilised only in
the local area, and is characteristic of older buildings in the
villages of Newton, Dunsop Bridge and Slaidburn. It was used
both dressed and as a rubblestone.
Birkett Stone at Browsholme Hall.
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 6

Stoneyhurst College shows the use of
Warley Wise Grit in its construction.
‘Warley Wise Grit’
The Warley Wise Grit – a brownish grey, moderately or thickly
bedded, medium- to coarse-grained, pebbly sandstone, with
siltstone interbeds throughout and coal seams locally – sits
immediately above the Pendle Grit Member (from which it
differs in several respects). It crops out in the Lancashire
Pennines south of the Craven Fault System and north of a line
from Rochdale to Leeds, but is frequently drift covered and
thus not readily accessible. Historically, the sandstone was
only quarried at a comparatively small number of sites, and
then only for local use e.g. in the vicinity of Barley, and around
Foulridge. Stoneyhurst College (above) used Warley Wise Grit
in its construction. The stone was likely quarried from the
nearby Sandy Bridge Quarry at Hurst Green.
In the Bowland area, a sandstone known as the Brennand Grit
occupies the stratigraphic position of the Warley Wise Grit.
This has the same general characteristics and use as the stone
occurring further south.
The priory at Heysham Head.
Silsden Formation
In southern Lancashire, the Silsden Formation comprises a
substantial thickness of shale, referred to as the Sabden
Shales. Some sandstone interbeds are present, and these have
been worked on a small scale for building and walling.
In the Bowland area, the sandstones are much more widely
developed and several have been quarried in an organised
fashion in the Forest of Bowland, and used in the buildings of
greater significance.
Ward’s Stone Sandstone
This sandstone is quarried around Clougha Pike and Ward’s
Stone Hill (immediately east of Lancaster) for building, walling,
paving, roofing and millstones. At Heysham Head, it seems to
be the source rock for the ancient (ruinous) priory (below) and
the Parish Church.
Dure Clough, Cocklett Scar
& Moorcock sandstones
Other sandstones worked for building include the Dure Clough
sandstones and the Cocklett Scar sandstones (Roeburndale
Member). At Claughton Moor, a locally developed sandstone
– the Moorcock Sandstone (Claughton Member) – has been
worked to some extent for roofing and paving flags.
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 7
Samlesbury Formation

The Samelsbury Formation albeit mudstone-dominated

includes some relatively thin sandstone beds but there is
currently no evidence of them being worked for building stone.

Hebden Formation

The Hebden Formation includes a large number of sandstones

which are generally massive, coarse-grained and often
conglomeratic. They are greyish brown in colour when fresh,
but undergo darkening upon weathering.

Ellel Crag Sandstone

The Samlesbury Formation, albeit mudstone-dominated,
includes some sandstone beds. The most important of these is
the Ellel Crag Sandstone, a fine to medium-grained sandstone,
which shows large-scale cross-bedding. This was still being
worked for aggregate and occasionally building and
Great Harwood church is constructed
monumental stone, up to the end of the 20th century. from Kinderscout Grit.

Todmorden Grit
The stratigraphically lowest sandstone of some significance is
the Todmorden Grit, which crops out around Blackburn
(where it is called the ‘Parsonage Sandstone’). This sandstone
tends to be finer-grained than the others in the formation.
Kinderscout Grit
These are the most important sandstones of the formation.
They have been worked on a large scale in the eastern parts of
the county, mainly to produce foundation material for
industrial plant. Around Great Harwood the beds were suitable
for production of flags and some building stone while at
Sabden the sandstones have been quarried in several places
on the side of Black Hill and the stone used for building and
gate posts. Vernacular cottages in Great Harwood and
Great Harwood church (top right), are constructed from
Kinderscout Grit.
Eldroth Grit
This sandstone was used extensively in harbour works at
Glasson Dock and in Lancaster.
Knott Copy Grit & Heysham Harbour Sandstone
Other sandstones worked include the Knott Copy Grit and the
Heysham Harbour Sandstone. The latter is the local equivalent
of the Upper Kinderscout Grit and the highest bed in the
Millstone Grit Group exposed in north Lancashire.
The Marsden Formation
Marsdenian rocks are distributed from Askrigg and Stainmore
in the north, through the Central Pennines, and thence
southwards into north Staffordshire. In Lancashire, they crop
out over a broad arc from Heysham Head, through Bowland,
the Pennine flanks, and in the Rossendale Anticline.
The main building stones are typically medium to very
coarse-grained (sometimes pebbly) feldspathic sandstones,
which were laid down in an extensive river delta system.
Colour-wise, they are characteristically grey to buff, but locally
have yellow or red overtones and banding. Though often
massive and uniform, they may show cross-bedding.

Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 8

Fletcher Bank Grit (aka the Gorpley Grit, the
Midgley Grit or Revidge Grit)
The most important building stone source, the Fletcher Bank
Grit, was intensively quarried in Edenfield and around Chorley,
Holcombe Road Viaduct, Haslingden (below), includes
Fletcher Bank Grit and Rough Rock in its construction.

Helmshore Grit
Worked locally along its outcrop for building stone. Frequently
used in combination with Haslingden Flags – their softer, more
uniform texture making them suitable for dressings and
mouldings – Marsden Formation gritstones are well-seen in
individual buildings such as Hoghton Tower, the adjacent
railway viaduct, and in Rivington, Chorley and Brindle.

Hazel Greave Grit

This locally quarried sandstone is notably finer-grained and
more flaggy in its lower part.

Brooksbottom Grit
This coarsening upwards sandstone unit has been quarried for
building stone around Heskin and Belmont.

Holcombe Brook Grit

Also coarsening upwards, this sandstone has been quarried for
local building stone use along much of its outcrop.
St. James’ Church in Brindle,
constructed of Fletcher Bank Grit.

Holcombe Road Viaduct, Haslingden, includes

Fletcher Bank Grit and Rough Rock in its construction.

Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 9

The Rossendale Formation

Haslingden Flags
The Upper and Lower Haslingden Flags, including the ‘Lonkey’
sandstones, form the lowest beds of the Yeadonian stage.
They are yellowish brown, fine-grained, SILICA-rich siltstones
and very fine grained sandstones, which weather to darker
shades of brown. They frequently have ripple marks
associated with fine cross-bedding, and characteristically split
into thin, uniform beds that are often separated by mica
‘partings’. Distributed amongst the flaggy sandstones are the Dingle Farmhouse, Edgworth.

‘Lonkey’ beds (in particular, a 3.5 m thick bed at the base of

the sequence), which are much harder, pale, massive,
quartzitic sandstones.

The Haslingden Flags were most extensively worked in the

Rossendale Valley, but also between Great Harwood and
Blackburn, and in an arc from Darwen round to Chorley. Cragg
Quarry at Rawtenstall is reputed to have been one of Britain’s
most sizeable quarries in the late 1800’s.

Initially, the main Haslingden Flag beds were used primarily for
roofing, but as quarrying methods improved, paving and
building stone became more important products. These were
used throughout much of urban East Lancashire. A wider
demand for stone products developed, and they were
exported throughout northern England, and also taken south Weavers’ cottages in Fallbarn
Road, Rawtenstall.
to Birmingham and London. Hard sandstone from the ‘Lonkey’
beds has been widely used for quoins and decorative features
on buildings, as well as for setts – the major road surfacing
material of 19th-century Lancashire.

Haslingden Flag use is widespread throughout eastern

Lancashire (both in main elevations and as a roofing material),
especially in Haslingden itself, but also in, for example,
Wheelton, Chorley and Edgworth (top right). Haslingden Flags
were used in the weavers’ cottages in Fallbarn Road,
Rawtenstall (middle right), and Higher Mill, Haslingden
(bottom right).

Higher Mill, Haslingden.

Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 10

The tower on Rivington Pike.
Rough Rock
The Rough Rock is the youngest and most extensively
developed unit of the Rossendale Formation. It is a coarse-
grained, pebbly, feldspathic sandstone, which was deposited
rapidly in massive, relatively uniform beds. The Rough Rock
tends to cap the higher moors of Rossendale and the West
Pennines, though locally it has been down-faulted to much
lower levels, such as at Euxton (near Chorley) where, in
buildings such as Gillibrand Barn, it can be seen stained red
due to the overlying presence (at outcrop) of Sherwood
Sandstone. Rough Rock sandstone has often been used where
large, load-bearing blocks were required, the best example
being the 24 eight tonne blocks used in the foundations of the
Eiffel Tower. Locally, it was often used in the construction of
moorland farm buildings, and associated drystone walls,
together with many structures on the Lever Park Estate and
the tower on Rivington Pike (above).
Pennine Coal Measures Group
Pennine Lower Coal Measures
Formation (PLCM)
The general pattern of sedimentation established during the
Namurian continued into Westphalian times, but the
depositional cycles increasingly involved protracted periods
during which the ground surface was colonized by swamp
vegetation (which subsequently formed the thin coals now
prominent in the succession). A typical depositional cycle
consists of interbedded mudstone, siltstone and sandstone,
with subordinate seatearth and developments of coal. The
sandstones can be thin and laterally impersistent, but some
are more extensive and extend basin-wide. In contrast to the
sandstones of the Millstone Grit Group, the PLCM sandstones
are predominantly medium-grained. Normally grey when fresh,
they usually weather to a yellowish brown colour. Sedimentary
structures including cross-bedding, lamination and bioturbation,
together with plant remains, are commonly observed. In
Lancashire, the PLCM strata are found around the Burnley
Coalfield and along the northern edge of the Wigan Coalfield.
The Burnley Coalfield occupies much of the relatively low-lying
ground to the north of the Rossendale Anticline, and stretches
from Blackburn through Burnley to Colne, with southwards-
directed extensions around Darwen and Bacup. The youngest
of several sandstone beds occurring within this coalfield
sequence is known as the Doghole Rock.
Many individual sandstones across the whole coalfield area
were worked for building stone and used in towns such as
Colne, Nelson and Padiham. Here, quarrying for building stone
was an important local industry, if somewhat overshadowed
by the more extensive operations in the Rossendale Valley. The
local quarrying industry declined in the first half of the 20th
century however, and very few sites produced building stone
after 1945.
To the south and west of the West Pennine Moors, the area
takes in the northern fringes of the Wigan Coalfield. The PLCM
strata are affected by extensive faulting, which has produced
four tectonic blocks: Chorley, Coppull and Adlington; Turton;
the Ashurst–Billinge Ridge and; the Skelmersdale Basin. Most
of the Coalfield is covered by till, which considerably restricts
access to the sandstones. The succession is almost entirely of
PLCM age, although there are inaccessible Pennine Middle
Coal Measures rocks in the extreme south.
There are over twenty named sandstones in the PCLM
succession. Virtually all of these sandstones have been worked
for building stone, dry stone walls or road aggregate to some
extent, while a small number, in both of the named coalfields,
were worked on a commercial scale.
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 11
St Peter’s, Belmont, constructed of
Ousel Nest Grit.

Ousel Nest Grit

The oldest of the PLCM building stone sources is the Ousel
Nest Grit – a medium-grained yellowish sandstone often
showing cross-bedding. It is found around Turton, Eccleston
and Horwich where there are still quarries working this stone.
The main working sites, such as Montcliffe - were in the Bolton
area and the sandstone was widely utilised in Lancashire. St
Peter’s, Belmont (above), is constructed of Ousel Nest Grit.

Woodhead Hill Rock & Darwen Flags

The Woodhead Hill Rock is a mainly medium-grained,
ochreous-weathering sandstone found in the east of the
county. It is either parallel- or (thickly) cross-bedded. The
younger Darwen Flags were quarried and mined south of
Darwen for their eponymous flags, which are fine-grained,
micaceous and ripple-laminated sandstones.

Darwen Flags used in a vernacular

building in Simonstone (Hackings Farm).
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 12

A dwelling constructed of
Old Lawrence Rock.
Old Lawrence Rock used as walling for
a pig pen at Rufford Old Hall.
Tim Bobbin rock at Gawthorpe Hall.
Crutchman & Warmden sandstones
The Crutchman Sandstone – also known as the Milnrow
Sandstone or, locally, the Flag and Stone Rock – is similar to
the Woodhead Hill Rock. It was worked at Crutchman Quarry
near Accrington on a significant scale, and also around the
Ashurst Ridge near Parbold. The Warmden Sandstone, also
called Helpet Edge Rock, is similar to the Woodhead Hill Rock,
but weathers to a yellow-brown colour. It was worked around
Oswaldtwistle and Accrington.
Dyneley Knoll Flags
The Dyneley Knoll Flags are variably developed, and are
sometimes absent altogether. A sandstone bed occurring at
the same stratigraphic level (i.e. between the Crutchman
Sandstone and the Old Lawrence Rock) was worked on a
considerable scale at Catlow Quarries, and is thought to be the
source of most of the building stone used in the Nelson area.
Small-scale extraction still takes place in part of the old quarry
area. It is also reputed to have been the source of the stone
used to build the City Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester
(1832). Supplies were apparently insufficient to complete the
job, however, and alternatives from Salterforth and Leeds were
used. The same sandstone was also quarried at Ashurst near
Skelmersdale, and on a small scale north of Hawkshaw.
Old Lawrence Rock
The most important of the PLCM building stones is the Old
Lawrence Rock. This was worked extensively around Appley
Bridge and Parbold in the south, and Hapton (near Accrington)
in east Lancashire. It is a fine to medium-grained, slightly
micaceous sandstone with a distinctly greenish-grey colour. It
is parallel-bedded with ripple laminae interbedded with
mudstones. Use of the stone was principally for flags and
general building. Sawn stone was produced for a short period
at Appley Bridge.
Flags were also produced from the nearby Upholland Flags
beds, which are reported to have been widely used in
Liverpool. It was used as ‘walling’ for a pig pen at Rufford Old
Hall: this use of large upstanding flagstones as boundary and
pen walling is common in areas where the Upholland Flags
(and the Haslingden Flags) occur.
Dandy & Tim Bobbin rocks
The Dandy Rock and the Tim Bobbin Rock are both found in
the Burnley and Brierfield areas. These modest sandstones
were worked in local quarries, often within the towns
themselves, and are now mostly built over. At Padiham, a
quarry near the gates to Gawthorpe Hall (bottom left), virtually
in the grounds of the mansion, worked the Tim Bobbin Rock,
and this would appear to have been the source of the stone
from which the Hall was built. The quarry was backfilled with
spoil from an adjacent colliery and is no longer visible.
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 13
Other Local Sandstones
There are many localised developments of other sandstones,
and these were worked over limited geographical areas. In the
Parbold area, for example, the Harrock Hill Grit (sitting near the
base of the formation), is a very coarse gritstone that was
extensively quarried in five or six substantial workings and
several more minor ones near the village. The stone is notable
as it is often shows pink staining and liesegang ring markings
– features attributed to the nearby presence of Triassic strata,
which presumably once overlay the older rocks. The Parbold
quarries assumed particular importance since they are the
nearest potential source of durable Carboniferous sandstone
Sherwood Sandstone at
to the extensive lowland areas of the west. Eccleston Parish Church, 14C
in part, and Grade II*.

Permo-Triassic
In Lancashire, Permo-Triassic rocks underlie the western third
of the county. They are extensively covered by superficial
deposits, however, and are rarely exposed. Permian strata crop
out over a relatively small area, and they are exposed at only a
small number of locations – and then only to a very limited
extent. There are no known instances of rock from these
exposures being quarried as building stone. Triassic strata, by
contrast, are considerably better developed, and there are
sandstones from within the Sherwood Sandstone Group –
including the Ormskirk Sandstone Formation – which have Mawdesley Hall, with its 18C wing
of Sherwood Sandstone.
been employed as building stone.

Mawdesley Hall is also noteworthy due to the fact that it

Triassic
Sherwood Sandstone Group
The Sherwood Sandstone Group (formerly known as the
Bunter Sandstone), is a comparatively soft, fine-grained,
sandstone-dominated, red-bed succession. Despite its fairly
widespread distribution in Lancashire, the group is seen at the
surface in a workable condition at only two locations around
Mawdesley and Ormskirk. It has been used in relatively few
(mostly early) buildings, for example Eccleston Parish Church
(top right); and Mawdesley Hall (bottom right).
stands directly on the bedrock. Although the Sherwood
Sandstone was readily accessible at Mawdesley, most of the
buildings are brick-built, and its three Victorian churches are
constructed of Millstone Grit Group sandstone ‘imported’ from
elsewhere. Only two or three buildings close to the Hall are of
Sherwood Sandstone, its limited use being a consequence of
the stone’s poor durability and the availability of better
building stone types nearby. At Ormskirk, for example,
preference was given to the Ormskirk Sandstone. Any red
Triassic sandstone used in the construction of Victorian
churches was likely to have been ‘imported’ from outside the
county (Cheshire, Merseyside and Cumbria), where more
durable versions of the stone were worked.

Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 14


Ormskirk Water Tower.
Fireplace in the Great Hall at
Rufford Old Hall.
The Great Altcar railway bridge.
Ormskirk Sandstone Formation
The top of the Sherwood Sandstone Group is marked by a
comparatively thin sequence of better-cemented, harder, and
therefore more durable sandstones. Known as the Ormskirk
Sandstone Formation (formerly the Lower Keuper Sandstone).
The unit is about 200m thick in Lancashire. It comprises
thickly-bedded, generally pale yellow, but occasionally light
red, medium to coarse-grained sandstones, which show
pronounced cross-bedding. These sandstones are much more
durable than the typical Sherwood Sandstone. The outcrop is
limited in extent, and surface exposure is restricted to the
higher ground around Ormskirk and Aughton, and also the
low-lying land around Downholland and Halsall. The outcrop
continues to the southwest into Merseyside, with workings
reported in Maghull, Melling and Bootle. The main Lancashire
source appears to have been a small quarry near Scarisbrick
(Pinfold Delph), which is now disused and partly backfilled.
Other minor workings appear to have existed around Clieves
Hill, Aughton and Tower Hill, Ormskirk.
Several important churches are built of the distinctive
Ormskirk Sandstone, including Ormskirk Parish Church (12th
century with later alterations, additions and restorations and,
virtually uniquely, both a tower and a spire) and Halsall Parish
Church (medieval but also much altered, added to and
restored). The sandstone was also used in some older town
centre buildings in Ormskirk, and is reputed to have been
used by the Stanley family (the Lords Derby) for the now
demolished Latham Hall. At Tower Hill, southeast of Ormskirk,
stands a splendid water tower (now converted to a house)
built of the pale red and mottled form of this stone that was
probably extracted from shallow workings in the nearby Ruff
Wood. There are also examples of its use in buildings outside
the area, including the distinctive St John’s Parish Church
(1883) and the Scarisbrick family mausoleum, both at
Crossens, Southport.
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 15
QUATERNARY
Pleistocene
Most of lowland Lancashire, as already noted, is covered by
superficial deposits, which are often of considerable thickness.
They also extend over a significant part of the eastern, upland
area. Glacial till (boulder clay) predominates, with subsidiary
areas of sand and/or gravel of various types. Along and inland
from the coast, there are areas of peat, silts, alluvium and
blown sand, and most of the higher uplands are blanketed by
peat. None of these deposits has any potential as building
stone, though historically the tills have been an important
source of clay for brick-making.
In a number of places, where suitable local sources are
available, cobbles (large rounded stones) have been used for
paving, walling and occasionally building construction – most
notably in Lytham and St. Anne’s. The usual sources of these
are either river channels or the foreshore, with additional
supplies coming from sand and brick pits (i.e. oversize
fluvio-glacial material). Locally-derived sandstones, along with
more ‘exotic’ igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Lake
District and SW Scotland, are well represented amongst the
cobbles, while the limestone examples present were likely
derived from either Morecambe Bay or the Pennine area.
Estate boundary walls made from cobbles at Lytham Hall.
Commercial working of river deposits has taken place at
various points along the rivers Calder and Ribble, for example
at Ribchester and Preston. This continued into the second half
of the twentieth century.
Historically, cobbles have had only limited use as street paving
(e.g. in Preston) and as a walling material (e.g. in Ribchester). A
fine example of the use of such materials is the group of former
farm buildings at Brock Side, where large, roughly-dressed
cobbles from the nearby River Brock have been used to
construct all of the buildings.
At Lytham St Anne’s, cobble-use is on a much more extensive
scale, and cobble-built walls are a characteristic of the
townscape in some parts of the town. A few buildings also
incorporate them. Estate boundary walls made from cobbles,
including those of the 18th-century Grade-I Lytham Hall,
provide the most notable example of the use of this material
(below).
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 16
Glossary
Cemented: The materials which bind the grains and/or fossil
components together to form a rock.
Dressings: To say a building is constructed of brick with stone
dressings means that worked stone frames the corners and
openings of the structure.
Fossiliferous: Bearing or containing fossils.
Rubble: Rough, undressed or roughly dressed building stones
typically laid uncoursed (random rubble) or brought to courses
at intervals. In squared rubble, the stones are dressed roughly
square, and typically laid in courses (coursed squared rubble).
Sandstone: A sedimentary rock composed of sand-sized
grains (i.e. generally visible to the eye, but less than 2 mm
in size).

Greywacke: Old term for an immature sandstone with >15% Seatearth: The layer of sedimentary rock underlying a
clay minerals. coal seam.

Interbedded: Occurs when beds (layers or rock) of a particular
lithology lie between or alternate with beds of a different
lithology. For example, sedimentary rocks may be interbedded
if there were sea level variations in their sedimentary
depositional environment.
Limestone: A sedimentary rock consisting mainly of calcium
carbonate (CaCO3) grains such as ooids, shell and coral
fragments and lime mud. Often highly fossiliferous.
Sett: A squared or rectangular stone used for paving.
Shale: An argillaceous rock with closely spaced,
well-defined laminae.
Silica: The resistant mineral quartz (silicon dioxide) SiO2 an
essential framework constituent of many sandstones and
igneous rocks, but it also occurs as a natural cement in both
sandstones and limestones.

Lithology: The description of a rock based on its mineralogical Siltstone: A sedimentary rock composed of silt-sized grains
composition and grain-size e.g. sandstone, limestone, (i.e. only just visible to the eye).
mudstone etc.

Micaceous: A rock which contains a high proportion of the

platey micaceous minerals muscovite and/ or biotite.

Mudstone: A fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of a

mixture of clay and silt-sized particles.

Outcrop: Area where a rock unit is exposed at the

ground surface.

Quartz: The crystalline form of silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2).

Quoin: The external angle of a building. The dressed alternate

header and stretcher stones at the corners of buildings.

Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 17

Acknowledgements
Written by J. S Geldard, J. McNeal, S. J Rhodes, A. Wiggett and
J. K Williams, this study is part of Lancashire’s contribution to
the Strategic Stone Study, sponsored by Historic England.
Thanks to GeoLancashire and the Lancashire Group of the
Geologists’ Association. All images ©J. McNeal except:
page 5 (all), 13 (middle), 14 (all), 15 (all), 16: ©J. S. Geldard;
page 7, 12 (top): ©S.J. Rhodes; page 9 (top, bottom), 10 (all),
11: ©J. K. Williams; page 13 (bottom): ©A. Wiggett.
Edited by Graham Lott and Stephen Parry, British
Geological Survey. Based on the original design by Tarnia
McAlester. First published by English Heritage December 2011.
This version of the atlas was rebranded by Historic England in
December 2017. The information within it remains unaltered
from the first version.
We are grateful for advice from the following:
Don Cameron, British Geological Survey
Graham Lott, British Geological Survey
Further Reading
British Regional Geology
Aitkenhead, N., Barclay, W. J., Brandon, A., Chadwick, R. A.,
Chisholm, J. I., Cooper, A. H., Johnson, E. W. (2002). British
Regional Geology: the Pennines and adjacent areas (4th
edition). Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey.
Maps and Memoirs
Aitkenhead, N., Bridge, D. M., Riley, N. J., Kimbell, S. F.,
Evans, D. J., Humphreys, B. (1992). ‘Geology of the country
around Garstang’. Memoir of the British Geological Survey,
Sheet 67 (England and Wales).
Arthurton, R. S., Johnson, E. W., Mundy, D. J. C. (1988). ‘Geology
of the country around Settle’. Memoir of the British Geological
Survey, Sheet 60 (England and Wales).
Brandon, A., Aitkenhead, N., Crofts, R. G., Ellison, R. A.,
Evans, D. J., Riley, N. J. (1998). ‘Geology of the country around
Lancaster’. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, Sheet 59
Lancaster (England and Wales).
Crofts, R. G., Hough, E., Northmore, K. J. (2010). ‘Geology of the
Rochdale district - a brief explanation of the geological map’.
Sheet 76 Rochdale. (England and Wales).
Earp, J. R., Magraw, D., Poole, E. G., Land, D. H., Whiteman, A. J.
(1961). ‘Geology of the country around Clitheroe and Nelson’.
Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 68
(England and Wales).
Jones, R. C. B., Tonks, L. H., Wright, W. B. (1938). ‘Wigan District.
Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain’, Sheet 84
(England and Wales).
Price, D., Wright, W. B., Jones, R. C. B., Tonks, L. H., Whitehead, T.
H. (1963). ‘Geology of the country around Preston’. Memoir of
the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 75 (England and
Wales).
Wilson, A. A., Evans, W. B. (1990). ‘Geology of the country
around Blackpool’. Memoir of the British Geological Survey,
Sheet 66 (England and Wales).
Wray, D. A., Wolverston Cope, F. (1948). ‘Geology of Southport
and Formby’. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain,
Sheets 74 and 83 (England and Wales).
Wright, W. B., Sherlock, R. L., Wray, D. L., Lloyd, W., Tonks, L. H.
(1927). ‘The Geology of the Rossendale Anticline’. Memoir of
the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Sheet 76 (England and
Wales).
1:50,000 scale Geological Maps
(Sheet 49 Kirby Lonsdale – Not published)
Sheet 59 Lancaster 1995 Solid and Drift.
Sheet 60 Settle 1991 Solid and Drift.
Sheet 66 Blackpool 1975 Solid and Drift.
Sheet 67 Garstang 1990 Solid and Drift.
Sheet 68 Clitheroe 1960 Solid (1:63360 scale).
Sheet 68 Clitheroe 1975 Drift.
(Sheet 74 Southport -- out of print).
Sheet 75 Preston 1982 Solid.
Sheet 75 Preston 1950 Drift (1:63360 scale).
Sheet 76 Rochdale 2008 Bedrock and B/r and Superficial
Deposits.
(Sheet 83 Formby -- Out of print)
Sheet 84 Wigan 1977 Solid and Drift
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 18
Other BGS Geological Maps
1:625,000 scale Bedrock Geology UK South. (5th edition). 2007.
1:625,000 scale Quaternary Map of the United Kingdom South. 1977.
1:250,000 scale Solid Geology. Sheet UTM045 Liverpool Bay. 1978.
1:250,000 scale Solid Geology. Sheet UTM053 Lake District. 1982.
1:1,000,000 scale Building Stone Resources of the United
Kingdom. 2002.
Other BGS Publications
Anon (2010). BGS Lexicon (of Named Rock Units). On-line at
www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon. Open access. British Geological
Survey. Nottingham.
Anon (2005). Building and Roofing Stone. British Geological
Survey Mineral Profile. Nottingham.
Historic England Publications
English Heritage (now Historic England) (2006). ‘Identifying
and Sourcing Stone for Historic Building Repair’. (Technical
Advice Note). London: English Heritage.
Listed Buildings – www.lbonline.english-heritage.org.uk
(on-Line database of listed buildings).
Images of England - www.imagessofengland.org.uk (on-line
photo gallery of listed buildings)
Buildings of England Series (Pevsner)
Hartwell, C. Pevsner, N. (2009). Buildings of England:
Lancashire: North. London: Yale University Press.
Pollard, R. Pevsner, N. (2006). Buildings of England: Lancashire:
Liverpool and the South-West. London: Yale University Press.
Pevsner, N. (1969). Buildings of England: Lancashire: 1. The
Industrial and Commercial South. London: Penguin Books.
Pevsner, N. (1969). Buildings of England: Lancashire: 2. The
Rural North. London: Penguin Books.
Pevsner, N. (1959). Buildings of England: Yorkshire: West Riding.
London: Penguin Books.
Other Publications
Anon (2010). The BRE British (Building) Stone List. Technical
Data Sheets (Fletcher Bank Quarry; Scout Moor Quarry and
Waddington Fell Quarry). Published by Building Research
Establishment (BRE). on–line at www.projects.bre.co.uk/
ConDiv/stonelist/stonelist.html.
Anon (2006). Historic Town Assessment Report Series.
Lancashire County Council and Egerton Lea Consultancy.
Preston 33 Volumes (See Note).
Thompson, A. et al, Symonds Group Ltd (2004). Planning for
the Supply of Natural Building and Roofing Stone in England
and Wales. London: Office of Deputy Prime Minister.
Champness, J. (1989). Lancashire’s Architectural Heritage. An
Anthology of Fine Buildings. Preston: Lancashire County
Council Planning Department.
Crosby, A. (1998). A History of Lancashire. Chichester: Phillimore
& Co.
Curl, J. S. (2003). Encyclopaedia of Architectural Terms.
Shaftesbury: Donhead.
Dalzeil, N (1993) “Trade and Transition 1690 – 1815”, in White A.
(ed.), A History of Lancaster 1193–1993. Keele: Ryburn
Publishing.
Doyle, P. et al. (2008). England’s Heritage in Stone: Proceedings
of a conference, Tempest Anderson Hall, York, 15–17 March,
2005. London: English Heritage.
Kearey, P. (2001). Dictionary of Geology. London: Penguin
Books.
Parker, N. (1972). The Preston and Longridge Railway. Lingfield:
Oakwood Press.
Parsons, V. (2001). ‘The building stones of Lancaster and
Williamson Park’. Proc. Westmorland Geological Society, No 29,
2001, pp 15–18.
Slack, M. (1986). The Bridges of Lancashire and Yorkshire.
London: Robert Hale.
Till, J. M. (1993). A History of Longridge and its People. Preston:
Carnegie Publishing.
Toghill, P. (2010). The Geology of Britain - An Introduction.
Airlife.
White, A. (ed) (1993). A History of Lancaster 1193–1993. Keele:
Ryburn Publishing.
Williams, J. K., Rhodes, S. J. (eds) (2008). The Geology and
Landscapes of Lancashire. Chorley, Lancashire: GeoLancashire.
Lancashire Strategic Stone Study 19